Columbia County firefighters collected more than $61,000 for charity in its annual Boot Drive held in May, according to Chief Doug Cooper of Columbia County Fire Rescue.

Firefighters collected a total of $61,162.37 over six days in May. The money collected was donated to Wal-Mart with a check in the amount of $10,000.00 for the Children’s Miracle Network, $10,000.00 to Columbia County Forward and $41,162.37 to Southeastern Firefighters Burn Foundation.

The former owner of an electronics repair business charged with scamming customers early this year was arrested again Thursday for stealing electricity and a power meter.

Perry Clark Bower, 54, former owner of Electric Medic, turned himself in to authorities Thursday afternoon. He is charged with theft and two counts of theft of utilities, according to Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris.

An Augusta man recently arrested for shooting an Evans man in the leg was charged with a similar crime less than two years ago.

Columbia County authorities charged Trelon O’Neal Baker, 20, of Fox Trace, on Tuesday with armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon during the commission of a crime. He’s being held in the Columbia County Detention Center without bond.

The following accounts were taken from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office incident reports:

Jenson’s Wymberly clubhouse burglarized

The manager of a senior living community in Martinez said early Thursday that someone kicked in the door to the community center overnight.

The manager of Jenson’s Wymberly said he arrived at work at about 6:30 p.m. and found the back door of the building unlocked. Walking through the building, he found a vase broken in the hallway. He thought it was broken accidentally and picked part of it up.

Columbia County officials say that a $3.7 million federal grant announced last week is just the downpayment on total state and federal funds that could cover most of what the county spent on ice storm cleanup.

U.S. 12th District Rep. John Barrow announced on Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was sending $3.7 million to Columbia County to pay for the cleanup and damages caused by an ice storm that paralyzed areas of Georgia in mid-February.

An Evans man was shot in the leg early Monday after four people tried to rob him outside his apartment.

Jamal Antwan Fielding, 25, was sitting on a bench behind the clubhouse at Westwood Club Apartments on Washington Road at about midnight when four people – two men and two women – approached brandishing a black automatic pistol and pointed it at Fielding, he said. They demanded cash and jewelry, according to Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris.

When he refused, one of the men shot Fielding in the thigh. The group ran away without taking anything, Morris said.

Even though Chrissy Rudder is married and has two children, she still finds time to be the number one volunteer at Columbia County Animal Services. Linda Glasscock, manager of the facility, praises Rudder’s volunteerism.

“If we didn’t have Chrissy, there are some days I don’t know how we would manage,” said Glasscock. “She comes up and plays with the dogs and she even helps clean, if needed. If we need animals transported to the vet, she transports them for us.”